


Christmas Traditions

by afterthenovels



Category: Glee
Genre: Christmas, Drabble, Future Fic, M/M, One-Shot, Sadness and then some cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 15:20:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1095562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afterthenovels/pseuds/afterthenovels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><a href="http://hearyoulaugh.tumblr.com">hearyoulaugh</a> prompted: Klaine decorating the Christmas tree which makes Kurt think of his mom and he gets melancholic even though he doesn't want to get all sad because he's with Blaine and he's happy and things are so so good and then Blaine just holds him & whispers sweet words and they share some light kisses and cuddle up on the couch and *u*</p>
<p>First published on Tumblr <a href="http://afterthenovels.tumblr.com/post/70830700800/annas-christmas-ficlets">here</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Traditions

The tree they managed to get this year is small and rather worn already, with some of the branches hanging a little lower than they should, but Kurt doesn't mind. It was the best they could afford with their student budget, and it's not like their small apartment even has room for a bigger tree anyway.

Besides, Kurt is an expert on giving people makeovers, so he can damn well give a makeover to a Christmas tree as well.

There's a cardboard box waiting on their sofa table, full of old handmade ornaments Kurt himself made when he was little or decorations his parents bought when they were newlyweds and building a home for themselves. This year, however, the box is even more full than before. Blaine's decorations are there as well, a sign of the life and home the two of them are trying to build for themselves now, and Kurt smiles fondly as he looks at the heart-shaped ornament Blaine must have made when he was in elementary school.

Blaine, who is humming Christmas songs in the kitchen as he puts the finishing touches on the cookies he's been baking all day. Kurt knows he should wait for Blaine before he starts decorating the tree, but he just can't wait, not anymore. Decorating the Christmas tree is one of his favorite traditions, has been ever since he was little and his mom was still alive, and there are some ornaments he wants to put on the tree all by himself.

Kurt rummages through the box and picks up the first one -- the red apple his dad gave to him and Rachel when they were spending their first Christmas in New York. The ornament is still bright and glittering, but Kurt can't help smiling a little sadly as he carefully hangs it on one of the upper branches. Last Christmas was tough, with his dad revealing that he had cancer and with him and Blaine being broken up and walking on eggshells around each other. Last year everything felt too much and not enough at the same time.

Things are better now, though. Kurt's dad is healthy, he and Blaine are engaged to be married and living in their own flat, ready to spend their first Christmas together in this way. Kurt takes a deep breath and blinks away the few tears that have quietly gathered in his eyes. He's not going to cry. He's not going to get sad when things are this good, not when he's decorating a Christmas tree and he can hear his fiancé singing _White Christmas_ just across the hall. Crying right now would be just embarrassing.

When he has brushed the last tears from his eyes and taken another deep breath, he fishes out the next ornament from the box -- and okay, trying not to cry was a stupid idea anyway. It's his mom's perfume bottle, and Kurt clutches it in his hand for a moment before he lifts it to his nose and inhales. If he imagines, if he tries very hard, he can still make out his mom's scent lingering around the bottle.

He always loved the way she smelled.

Kurt lowers his hand, staring at the perfume bottle through his tears. His mom loved Christmas; that's one of the few things he still remembers of her clearly. She was the one who always bought their Christmas tree, the one who helped Kurt decorate it, and the one who spent hours and hours in the kitchen making sure their Christmas dinner was perfect. She was the one who told Kurt stories about the ornaments and other decorations, about where they had come from and why she and Kurt's dad had decided to buy them. They had been collected through the years, almost like a metaphor for their whole family, and that's why Kurt asked Blaine to put his own decorations in the same box this year.

Kurt can still remember her mom dancing around their Christmas tree when they were hanging the ornaments, Kurt trying to keep up with her movements and his dad watching them from the doorway with a smile. That's the way he wants to remember her -- happy and vibrant and beautiful -- and god, sometimes Kurt just misses her _so much_. It's been well over a decade, but especially during the holidays all the memories Kurt has of her suddenly rise to the surface, breaking over like the tears in his eyes right now.

"The cookies just need to cool down a bit and then they're-- Kurt?"

Kurt's head snaps up. Blaine is standing a few feet from him, looking at him with worried eyes. There are flour stains on his shirt and he smells like cardamon and cinnamon, and Kurt feels his heart tightening inside his chest. He doesn't want to be sad, not today; things are well, Christmas is his favorite holiday and he is happy, so incredibly and unbelievably happy -- but somehow he can't stop the tears that are already running down his cheeks.

"I'm fine," he gasps out when Blaine reaches out for him. "Just... emotional."

"Kurt..." Blaine steps closer and lifts his hand to brush the tears away from Kurt's cheek. Kurt leans into the touch, closing his eyes and swallowing roughly. "Is it... Is it about your mom?" Blaine asks quietly.

Kurt's fingers tighten unconsciously around the perfume bottle. "Y-yeah," he admits in a low voice, blinking his eyes back open again. "I always miss her more during the holidays."

Blaine's smile is gentle when he meets his eyes. "Is that the perfume bottle you've told me about?" he asks, nodding towards the bottle in Kurt's hand.

Kurt nods, opening his hand and showing the small bottle to Blaine. "I don't remember the way she smelled as well as I used to," he confesses, his voice cracking in the middle of the sentence.

Blaine's hand is warm and comforting against his cheek, full of love and affection as it wipes away another tear. Kurt knows that Blaine doesn't understand, not really -- Blaine still has both his parents, he hasn't lost as many people as Kurt has -- but what's special about Blaine is that he never pretends to understand perfectly how Kurt feels. He listens and cares and is always there for Kurt, no matter what; he tries so hard to understand that just that is enough. He may not know personally what Kurt is going through, but he knows why and knows what to do to make it easier and better.

"Do you want to hang it on the tree?" Blaine asks softly.

Kurt laughs, but it sounds more like a sob. "I was going to, before I started bawling my eyes out."

Blaine smiles and leans in to press a small kiss on Kurt's cheek. He can probably taste the salty tears on Kurt's skin, but he doesn't say anything about them.

"We can do it together, if you want to?" he suggests.

Kurt hesitates for a moment and then nods. Blaine immediately moves to wrap his arms loosely around Kurt's body from behind, resting his chin on his shoulder and shuffling them forward awkwardly until they're standing right in front of the tree. Kurt can feel another laugh bubbling up in his chest because of how ridiculous they must look like, and he ducks his head to hide his sudden smile.

"Where do you usually hang it?" Blaine asks.

Kurt takes a deep breath. "Um... Somewhere around the middle? So that I can see it every time I look at the tree. As if she's... still here."

Kurt may not believe in God, but he believes firmly in his family.

Blaine nudges Kurt gently, encouraging, and Kurt lifts his hands, carefully hanging the perfume bottle on the sturdiest looking branch in his line of vision. When he lets go, the bottle spins around a few times, the Christmas lights on their living room window reflecting off its surface and making its glass twinkle.

Blaine squeezes Kurt's waist. "It looks perfect," he murmurs.

Kurt sniffles, leaning against Blaine's body. "I think so too," he says.

Blaine smiles and kisses the curve of Kurt's neck. "Come on, let's sit down. We can finish with the other decorations later. I made some hot chocolate."

Kurt wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. "With whipped cream?" he asks.

"With whipped cream," Blaine repeats with a grin and pulls him to sit down on their couch. There are two mugs of hot chocolate waiting on the sofa table -- Blaine must have placed them there when he walked in -- and he hands them both to Kurt before he sits down next to him on the couch, cuddling up to him. "C'mere."

Kurt leans against Blaine's chest and gives the other mug to him. "I'm not... sad, you know?" he says after a moment. "I'm really happy right now. I'm always happy when I'm with you, and I can't wait to spend this Christmas with you, but just... Christmas trees were sort of our thing."

"You and your mom?" Blaine clarifies, pulling the blanket over their legs.

Kurt hums, curling his fingers around the mug's warmth. He can still feel a few tears tickling his eyes, but they don't fall. "We used to decorate the tree together and sing along to the Christmas songs on the radio."

"I would've loved to meet her," Blaine says softly and kisses Kurt's temple. "From everything you've told me, she sounds like a wonderful person."

Kurt cuddles closer to him, connected and safe. "She was. And she would have loved you, I know it." He smiles. "She would've immediately noticed the heart eyes you make when you look at me and that would've been enough," he teases.

Blaine laughs, the sound rumbling comfortably against Kurt's body. He leans over to place his own mug back on the table and then tightens his hold on Kurt.

"It's okay if you're sad, though," he says carefully after a quiet moment. "You know that, right? Christmas doesn't have to be just merry and jolly, not if it's not how you feel like."

"I know, Blaine. Besides, I feel a little better already." Kurt turns his head to meet Blaine's eyes and gives an easy smile. "Love you."

"Love you too," Blaine says back, kissing Kurt's lips slowly. He tastes like hot chocolate and the cookie dough he has probably been sneakily eating all day, and Kurt knows that his mom would be so happy for them if she was still here. She would see the Christmas Kurt and Blaine are building together, Hummel traditions mixed up with the Anderson's, and she would smile just like she did when she was decorating the tree with Kurt all those years ago.

That smile is one of the things Kurt will hopefully never forget.

Kurt breaks the kiss and nuzzles his nose against Blaine's cheek, smiling to himself. He can see the perfume bottle from the corner of his eye, still twinkling in the Christmas lights' glow. Somehow he knows that Blaine is looking at it as well.

"You know, she was the one who made hot chocolate a Hummel family Christmas tradition," Kurt says abruptly.

Blaine pecks his cheek again, smiling into the kiss. "It's a good tradition. We should keep it up."

"Make it a Hummel-Anderson tradition as well?" Kurt asks, the corners of his mouth twitching up with a smile of his own.

Blaine grins back. "Something like that. Do you... Do you think your mom would've liked that?" he adds quietly, almost a little hesitantly, as he strokes his fingers over Kurt's left hand under the blanket.

Kurt rests his head on Blaine's shoulder. "I think she would've loved it."


End file.
